United Parcel Service Inc. will expand its use of keyless-entry technology to deliver packages at apartment buildings.
After successfully testing the technology in New York and San Francisco, UPS will extend keyless entry to 10 other cities – including Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago – by mid-2019.
UPS is using keyless-entry technology developed by New York-based Latch. It allows UPS to send a code to a delivery truck driver’s hand-held computer, which the driver can use to open a remote-access lock and gain keyless entry to an apartment building, not individual apartments.
The UPS plan to expand the use of keyless-entry technology is part of a broader effort by couriers to develop systems that ensure fast, secure home delivery as e-commerce grows.
In 2017, Amazon.com Inc. introduced a smart lock allowing its employees to enter homes to deliver packages. This year, Amazon extended its keyless-entry services to business locations, including apartment buildings and commercial buildings.
David Abney, chief executive officer of UPS, told Bloomberg TV that online retail sales increased 18 percent during the peak of the holiday shopping season late last year while traditional retail sales grew an estimated 5.6 percent.
Online sales volume still accounts for just 13 to 14 percent of total retail sales, he said, “so it still has a long ways to go.” [Bloomberg] – Mike Seemuth